Page 21 of Stained Honor

Epilogue

Maxim, Brando, Giorgio, and Lorenzo are gathered around the round kitchen table, drinking, gambling, and talking shit loud enough to wake the dead. I’m stretched across the couch with my head resting on Carlo’s lap, enjoying the slow strokes of his large hand through my hair while I stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the steady rain pouring through the darkness outside.

My mind isn’t trapped in the past or terrified of the future.

I’m just here.

In this moment.

And all I can do is thank God for letting me live long enough to have it.

Thank God my family’s together.

I have so much to be grateful for.

My gaze drifts toward the decorated Christmas tree, and another smile spreads across my face when I remember Gabriel’s excitement earlier tonight. My sweet little boy had gotten so worked up running around and causing chaos beneath the tree that he eventually crashed like someone unplugged him.

A loud burst of laughter erupts from the kitchen, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I flinch slightly.

Carlo’s hand immediately settles possessively on my shoulder.

“Want me to kick them out?” he asks seriously.

It was about two weeks ago that Carlo decided we should spend the final weeks of my pregnancy at the apartment he bought for me before we got married so we’d be closer to the city and could get to the hospital faster once I went into labor.

And apparently, these four idiots decided that meant they needed to move into the apartment across the hall to “protect us.” They’ve been up our asses from morning till night ever since.

I take his hand, lazily playing with his fingers as I answer softly, “When I agreed to marry you, I knew these four idiots were part of the deal. And since I know you love me more than all of them combined… I can tolerate them.”

A smirk pulls at his mouth before he takes another sip of his drink. The dark knitted sweater stretched across his body hides most of his skin, but it does absolutely nothing to conceal the hard outline of the muscles underneath. I shift slightly against him before continuing,

“Besides, their noise distracts me from the fact that our son’s apparently trying to crawl up my throat instead of dropping lower like he’s supposed to.”

His entire expression softens instantly. One large hand moves to my swollen stomach, massaging it gently while he asks, “You hurting that bad?”

I smile tiredly. “If I say no, I’d be lying. I love Luca, but I’d really appreciate it if he stopped using my bladder as a punching bag and finally came out so I can hold him.”

Luca.

The name Carlo and I chose together for our unborn son. The name we somehow both thought of at the exact same time and suggested simultaneously.

Carlo bends down and presses a kiss against my stomach.

“Not much longer now, baby.”

Then he lifts his head and kisses me deeply too, and when the kiss drags on a little too long, loud cheering and whistling erupts from the kitchen.

Carlo shoots a stormy glare in their direction that shuts everyone up instantly except Brando. Completely unfazed, Brando winks at me and blows me a kiss across the room, which immediately earns him a low growl from Carlo.

“Look at this motherfucker.”

He starts to get up like he’s genuinely about to go murder him, but I grab his hand quickly and murmur, “Don’t go. Don’t ruin my peace.”

And somehow, that’s enough. Despite how annoyed he looks, Carlo drops back into his seat and silently suffers through it instead.

Brando bursts out laughing again before going right back to his game.

My eyes drift toward Giorgio, and instantly my mind slips back to a night six years ago in this very house. The night Carlo risked his life to save Brando while Giorgio and I stayed awake until morning waiting to find out whether he’d make it back alive.